Summary: Among older adults with obstructive sleep apnea, those who used positive airway pressure therapy showed a lower likelihood of receiving a dementia diagnosis over three years. Source: University of Michigan New research indicates that positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in older adults is associated with a reduced risk … Read more

More than 40 percent of retired NFL players in a new study showed evidence of traumatic brain injury on sensitive MRI scans (diffusion tensor imaging), the researchers reported. The findings were released in conjunction with a presentation scheduled for the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15–21, 2016. This large … Read more

A detailed analysis of how nerve fiber tips form crucial connections during brain development could improve our understanding of the origins of some cognitive disorders. Researchers at the University of Queensland—working across the Queensland Brain Institute, the School of Mathematics and Physics, and the School of Biomedical Sciences—have identified six fundamental shape dimensions that characterize … Read more

Summary: Using advanced ultrasound techniques for brain imaging could be safer and more affordable than many current neuroimaging methods. Source: ETH Zurich Ultrasound imaging and seismology share a common principle: both infer internal structure by measuring how waves travel through material. When seismic waves meet changes in rock types underground, they are reflected and refracted … Read more

Summary: Using a new imaging technique based on bioluminescence, researchers show that the cellular clocks within a single organ can remain synchronized even when the brain’s master clock and other body clocks are absent. Source: University of Geneva Circadian clocks regulate metabolic and physiological processes across roughly 24-hour cycles and are fundamental to life. In … Read more

Researchers studying stroke survivors who lost the ability to spell have identified the specific brain regions that support written word production. In a new report appearing in the journal Brain, neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins University connect distinct types of spelling impairments to damage in separate areas of the brain, offering fresh insight into how language … Read more

Summary: New research identifies the same brain mechanisms that trigger memory reactivation during both wakefulness and sleep. Source: University of Birmingham Identical neural mechanisms trigger memory reactivation in both sleep and wakefulness, new research from the University of Birmingham reports. This study clarifies how the brain ‘replays’ or reactivates memories during sleep, a process that … Read more

New research reveals that the brain’s immune cells, known as microglia, not only protect against infection and inflammation but also repair the barrier that isolates the brain from the rest of the body. These findings have important clinical implications because some cardiovascular drugs that target the same receptor may interfere with the brain’s ability to … Read more

Summary: In older adults with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), higher levels of apathy at baseline and increases in apathy over time were linked to a greater risk of developing dementia. By contrast, baseline depression and increases in depressive symptoms did not show a clear association with later dementia diagnoses. Source: University of Cambridge Apathy, … Read more

How Executive Function Supports Early Language Learning: New Findings from a Dutch Preschool Study Summary: New research finds that children’s executive function—the cognitive skills that support self-control, attention, and planning—is strongly linked to how they process and learn language. In a study of 120 Dutch preschoolers aged 4 to 5, researchers used sentence-comprehension tasks and … Read more